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Genesis: Part II (episode)
|alt-title = |image = Accelerator.jpg |image-size = 290px |image-caption = Sam in the accelerator. |season-epno = 02 |season = 1 |broadcastdate = March 26, 1989 |imdb = tt1256366 |teleplay = |story = |writer = |director = |leap-date = September 13, 1956 |place = Edwards Air Force Base; Blockfield, CA / Texas, 1968 |leapee = Tom Stratton, Tim Fox |prev = " " |next = " " }} Genesis: Part II was the second part and the conclusion of a two-episode series premiere story arc of the NBC-TV series Quantum Leap. Directed by David Hemmings, the episode, which was written by series creator and executive producer Donald P. Bellisario, along with " ", made its first airing on NBC on March 26, 1989. Summary September 13, 1956/Summer, 1968: Sam must fly the X-2 and survive, save the life of Peg and her unborn child and win a baseball game - all while attempting to piece together the fragments of his Swiss-cheese memory. Plot Sam is walking around the hangar at the Air Force base, inspecting the X-2 he is scheduled to fly on Monday, when Al appears. Al explains to Sam the "string theory of time travel", how the Imaging Chamber functions and who precisely is controlling Sam's leaps - an unseen force, whether it be God or time or fate. Al also tells him that in the original timeline, Tom Stratton was killed while attempting to fly the X-2 to Mach-3, so all Sam has to do to leap is survive the flight. Despite Sam's reservations, Al assures him that he himself was once a pilot and he will help guide him through the entire exercise. Sam begins to accept the plan. As Monday arrives, Sam returns to the Air Force base to submit his memory test. Doctors Ernst and Berger inspect the submission and find that it is filled with bizarre answers that suggest Sam is from the future. The two conclude that the entire memory loss theory was simply a joke all along. As Sam steps into the X-2, he becomes nervous as Al is nowhere to be seen. The X-2 is lowered from another plane and launched into the sky. Sam starts to panic and attempts to tell his operators that he cannot fly, until Al shows up and instructs him on how to steer the X-2. As it starts to speed up beyond Mach-1 and Mach-2, the X-2 begins experiencing turbulence. Suddenly Sam and Al hear a bubbling noise, and they realize the heat from the engine is boiling the plane's fuel. The warning light flares on the instrument panel, informing Sam he has a fire. Al urgently tells Sam to eject. Moments later, the X-2 explodes in the sky, and the debris crashes to the ground. The sound of the distant explosion shocks Peg, who is in the kitchen of her home, worried for her husband. Sam, however, managed to eject from the plane in time and floats safely to earth in a parachute. An entire crew of Air Force paramedics rush out to collect him. Sam is frustrated that, despite accomplishing his mission, he has still not leaped. Sam is taken to the hospital, where he is told that Peg went into premature labour after hearing the X-2 explosion. The hospital doctors tell him that, once labour begins, it cannot be stopped, so that the baby will need to be delivered prematurely even though it is unlikely to survive. Sam, remembering that he has medical knowledge from the future, knows this notion has been proven false and instructs them to administer an alcoholic solution intravenously to Peg. The procedure works successfully. Peg is inebriated, but the labour stops. Sam gives the thumbs-up signal to Mikey and Birdell, assuring them that Peg and the baby are okay. Then, suddenly, he leaps. Sam finds himself in 1968, having leaped into baseball player Tim Fox. He is soon joined by Al, and learns that while no time has passed for him for everyone else it's been six days since he leaped (with the team at Project Quantum Leap spending most of the time celebrating). Al explains that Fox is a minor league player who was sent up to the majors but was sent back down after an injury to recover and wasn't picked back up afterwards. His team is playing the final game of the season and, according to Al, are destined to lose which will make Fox retire. Sam asks Al why he didn't leap home, but Al and Ziggy are still unsure. Al tells Sam that he did manage to change history in regards to Tom Stratton; not only was he not killed but the stress caused Peg not to give birth to a stillborn daughter. Having saved Tom, Sam also saved his daughter (who, funnily enough, was named Samantha) with Al noting that someone wanted the two to survive. Sam does know now, however, that he is a medical doctor. Al says that, actually, Sam holds six doctorates (one of which is indeed medicine), and his speciality is in quantum physics. Al reveals that Sam was a prodigy, touted as the next Einstein, and Quantum Leap is his own project. He also wryly notes that Sam is the only person who could have figured out how to get himself home. Sam is despondent, as he can't even remember his own last name. Al takes pity on Sam and disobeys Ziggy's orders by telling him his name is "Sam Beckett". Armed with his knowledge, Sam is able to phone his home at Elk Ridge, Indiana, and have a tearful conversation with his father, John Beckett. Sam now realises that his ability to travel in time is a gift, and ponders what greater things he might be able to accomplish in his travels. As Sam returns to the field to bat, the coach tells him it is his last game and he is badly hoping they will win. Sam is now determined to change history and win the game. Sam does not manage to hit the ball, though due to unexpected fumbling and mishaps from the opposing team, Sam does manage to score on a dropped third strike, and three throwing errors to win the game. His entire team laud Sam as a hero, and Sam leaps... Actor Notes Bakula's own voice is overdubbed over the actor playing young Sam. The same actor would return to play young Sam as the mirror reflection in the episode , but the actor playing Sam's father would not return for that episode; Bakula would play that character himself in a dual role. Character Notes We learn Sam's last name for the first time (Beckett), and learn that he grew up in Elk Ridge, Indiana. The Science of Leaping We learn in this episode for the first time that Al doesn't have a reflection in the mirror, since holograms don't reflect; however, we also learn that dogs can see Al. Music *Yellow Rose Of Texas Podcast http://quantumleappodcast.com/episodes/season-one/001-genesis/ Audio Commentary http://quantumleappodcast.com/audio-commentary/genesis-25th-anniversary-audio-commentary/ Category:Episodes